Registration Fee: $50 per seminar for Members & AHJs/$150 per seminar for Non-Members.(Certificates are available at an extra fee of $10 each, please contact seminars@nfsa.org for info)

August 15, 2017

Protected and Unprotected Concealed Spaces: Part 1

Presented by Louis Guerrazzi, Manager of Product Standards

NFPA 13 requires sprinklers to be installed to protect all areas of a building unless an area is specifically permitted to allow omission of sprinklers by a section of the standard. Section 8.15, Special Situations, provides guidance on which of these areas are permitted to have sprinklers when meeting certain criteria. Arguably one of the most utilized areas of this section is 18.15.1.2 which provides 18 subsections of arrangements for concealed spaces in which sprinklers are not required to be installed. This seminar is part 1 of 2 which will tackle issues involved with omitting sprinklers from these spaces and how to properly protect these spaces when you cannot omit sprinklers.

September 19, 2017

Protected and Unprotected Concealed Spaces: Part 2

Presented by Roland Asp, Manager of Installation Standards

NFPA 13 requires sprinklers to be installed to protect all areas of a building unless an area is specifically permitted to allow omission of sprinklers by a section of the standard. Section 8.15, Special Situations, provides guidance on which of these areas are permitted to have sprinklers when meeting certain criteria. Arguably one of the most utilized areas of this section is 18.15.1.2 which provides 18 subsections of arrangements for concealed spaces in which sprinklers are not required to be installed. This seminar is part 2 of 2 which will tackle issues involved with omitting sprinklers from these spaces and how to properly protect these spaces when you cannot omit sprinklers.

October 17, 2017

Vertical Shafts, Stairways and Elevators

Presented by Jeff Hugo, Manager of Codes

Where are sprinklers required in vertical shafts, stairways, elevator equipment rooms and elevators shafts? The special situations included in NFPA 13 sections 8.15.2, 8.15.3, 8.15.4 and 8.15.5 will be reviewed. NFPA 13 requires sprinkler protection in vertical shafts having exposed combustible construction. The basic requirements for installation of sprinklers, considerations for inspection and conditions allowing omission of protection in vertical shafts will be identified. Sprinkler protection requirements for stairways of combustible, limited combustible and noncombustible construction will be identified. Situations involving vertical openings for escalators, staircases and atriums will be reviewed. Sprinkler protection requirements for elevator equipment rooms and shafts will be identified. These requirements have evolved over the last several cycles and reviewed to demonstrate when sprinkler protection is required and when it can be omitted.

November 21, 2017

Unusual Ceilings

Presented by Mark Hopkins, P.E., Vice President of Engineering

The installation of complex and ornate ceilings has become the norm rather than the exception in many contemporary construction projects. Special situations involving spaces above ceilings, open grid ceilings, drop out ceilings, ceiling clouds and stepped ceilings will be reviewed. Architectural ceiling designs have continued to evolve beyond the limitations for cloud ceilings. The special ceiling situations included in the sub-sections of 8.15 will be reviewed. Sprinkler protection requirements and compliance options will be discussed for these unique and challenging ceiling configurations.

December 19, 2017

Other Special Situations

Presented by Jim Lake, Director of Training

This session rounds out the special situation topics of NFPA 13, section 8.15, which has often been referred to as the “junk drawer.” A variety of miscellaneous and somewhat seemingly unrelated topics will be discussed including, library stack areas, glazing protection, revolving doors, and stages. Although these topics do not appear to be related, each has its own unique set of specialized sprinkler protection requirements and/or permitted omissions. Knowing how to provide protection for these conditions is important to ensure compliance. In addition, requirements for return bends, dry pipe underground and old-style sprinklers will be discussed.